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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139486">priceless</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jydaria/pseuds/Jydaria'>Jydaria</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>snapshots [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SPY x FAMILY (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluffbruary, Gen, Humor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:42:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,510</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139486</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jydaria/pseuds/Jydaria</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things are just priceless. Fluffy Forger family moments, told by WISE’s bill.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anya Forger &amp; Loid Forger | Twilight &amp; Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>snapshots [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827979</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. parenting time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>there's a lot of fluff going around, but sadly I took a bit of a humor cop-out and am going to have the fluff be mentioned on the peripheral</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Doctoring files wasn’t easy. It was certainly a boon to have connections with someone like Frankie, but it was a tightrope walk. The amount of operatives they had in Berlint General Hospital was a testament to that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So one day, when a request came in for fudged library records, Handler was rightfully suspicious. There were too many books, and then someone would have to take the fall for the missing books eventually. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The request was denied, and soon enough was followed up with an </span>
  <em>
    <span>ungodly sum. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Late library book return fees and...</span>
  <em>
    <span>missing book fees for 17 books.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>They were all parenting books, checked out from the beginning of Operation Strix. “Lost after the first apartment was raided…</span>
  <em>
    <span>and you forgot about them until now?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The missing book fees, she got. It happened in their line of work. But the </span>
  <em>
    <span>late fees. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She needed a drink. Too bad all her alcohol tolerance had been trained to the roof years ago. “Instead of trying to read books, you should just talk to them.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you need something?” the messenger asked.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She lazily waved the hand that was not nursing her headache. “No, nothing. There’s just...emotionally constipated men.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. birthday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Handler wasn’t saying her life was starting to revolve around reality TV—er, Operation Strix—but her calendar suggested otherwise. </span>
  <em>
    <span>(Any other reason for having the Forger family members’ birthdays in her calendar would point towards unnecessary attachments.)</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So knowing what she knew about young children, birthday parties, and that Anya’s “birthday” was coming up, she thought back to the castle rental fee and prayed for her sanity. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then she remembered that there were no significantly large purchases around the time of Twilight’s “anniversary,” and decided to push him in the right direction if need be. She hoped she wouldn’t have to remind him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>(For his sake more than hers.) </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The Blackwell family’s daughter is planning a surprise birthday party for Anya, and thus will cover most expenses.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The missive from Twilight relayed after her probing. Well, she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the days following up to Anya’s birthday, there were no bills out of the ordinary. But Handler couldn’t help but shake the feeling that it was still too early to be relieved. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then Anya’s birthday came around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Property damage and medical bills?!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Twilight had left out many details in the explanation section, and then, at the bottom she noticed, “This being a third of the charges, split between the Blackwell family and...Yor Briar Forger.” Really, Twilight? WISE wasn't <i> that </i> cheap. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She flipped the form. Attached behind it was an apology letter taking responsibility for the damages from...Yor Briar Forger. Apparently Twilight had failed to inform his wife about the surprise Anya’s friend was planning for her</span>
  <em>
    <span> (maybe she’d give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t know the extent of the surprise),</span>
  </em>
  <span> and she had acted accordingly to what she perceived was a threat to her daughter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well.” Her ire cooled, replaced with the cold shadow of resignation. “It could be worse.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>handler needs a good vacation</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. cuddles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When switching on the radiator, it started to sink in that the weather was starting to get cold enough to warrant increased heating. And thus, increased bills. Well, she never needed extra excuses to crack out the mulled wine. The task saved her from running through the mental calculations for the Forgers’ amenities bill this season. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An invoice came in, and it turned out Twilight had beat her to it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘It’s an investment.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the reasoning provided. A reasonable assessment. Although, she had to suppress the urge to tease him for the purchase of only </span>
  <em>
    <span>two</span>
  </em>
  <span> heated blankets rather than three. That would just push him backwards, erasing all his progress, after all. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then, not even days later, she was treated to a sight she rarely got to see.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A reimbursement notice. For only one of the heated blankets. She could do the math. This time, she didn’t resist the smile. “Cute.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>not giving handler a headache? it's more likely than you think</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. drunken confessions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this was supposed to be different when I was writing it but then I got sad so ¯\_(ᐛ)_/¯</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Only </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span> of experience with kids, agents—the same thing really—allowed her to be able to decipher the scrawl in front of her. Was...did something happen to Twilight? It was an unfamiliar handwriting though, but the information written on the back of his invoices could only have been his. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well. It could </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>be, but she was pretty sure those certain blotches read “Operation Best Buddies” and “Imperial Scholar.” It was better safe than sorry. And so, she sent an inquiry to Twilight about the mystery on the back of his invoice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The response? That one night, Anya had accidentally been given a sip of alcohol, then decided she wanted to fill out “mission reports” about how she’d been doing in school. Her spy obsession explained the name “Operation Best Buddies” and “mission report.” And if she was motivated to become an Imperial Scholar herself, they all the better.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But the cause. This warranted a Conversation™ about responsibility with her agent, and one with herself on whether she should have people start to refer to her as Babysitter instead of Handler.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>lifehack: don't give kids alcohol</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. petnames</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The door opened, but she didn’t even glance up. There was urgent information she needed to decipher. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Umm,” the newcomer sounded unsure and uncomfortable. That wouldn’t do for any WISE operatives (unless it was an intentional ruse, but this sure didn’t seem like it). She finally looked up, but didn’t cease shading the paper in front of her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The messenger nervously laid the report on top of a stack on her desk (not the right one, but not that much of a problem), and took the lack of rebuke as a cue to leave it there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you...need any help with…” A pause, and she had to tip her hat to the inconspicuous staring skills. “...that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She finally stopped shading, then held her handiwork against the light. Well, an explanation wouldn’t hurt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, thank you. I received an invoice from Twilight, and there was a section heavily crossed out. I was wondering what was written initially.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The messenger had a mixed look of being confused and nonplussed. Handler didn’t care to explain why she was so curious what Twilight had written before crossing it out and replacing it with “Yor Briar Forger.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>y’all know that pencil imprint trick kids get “omg” abt? yeah.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. cooking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sometimes, Handler got to have a good kick out of Twilight’s purchases. More often though, they gave her a headache. But most of the time? Usually it was boring as hell. Shaving supplies, Anya’s school materials—the list of all sorts of normal, mundane things went on (and added up). </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By this point, she was solidly able to recognize and forge Yor’s handwriting, if needed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Vegetables, kitchen supplies, fish, chocolate, twine... </span>
  </em>
  <span>The list continued, and she was increasingly thrown off.</span>
  <em>
    <span> ...heavy duty rope, sewing thread, glue, hay, cacti, sand, flowers… </span>
  </em>
  <span>She checked the top. That section of the list was specifically titled “cooking.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The concern was starting to set in. These weren’t even real ingredients, Twilight. She knew he wasn’t really the teaching type, but still. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she asked whether he knew about her purchases (and that yes...they were all cooking purchases), it turned out Yor was paying for her own groceries, and her list was accidently left in the financial files he handed over to her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At least she wasn’t funding the Forger family’s deaths. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I mean, cacti is a plant, valid eating material right</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. thunderstorms</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*looks outside at the bright sun* anyway hope everyone hit by the sudden cold has working heating and that their pipes aren't bursting and all that</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>An urgent missive arrived at WISE overnight. She had originally stayed there because the weather outside was horrid, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to get some work done in between naps. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reading the missive, she was glad she stayed at WISE. Apparently the thunderstorm was bad enough that the power had gone out for quite a few neighborhoods. Moreover, some other tenants in Twilight’s building had refused to pay the bills, so their heating was being held hostage as well. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not out of altruism for his neighbors, but rather concern for his own family, Twilight was wanting to pay the landlord to get the heating back up as quickly as possible. Presumably he’d deal with getting the money back later, was implied. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What if she were asleep? For all Twilight knew, she was asleep. And sleeping people couldn’t fix problems.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The messenger fidgeted, and looked at her warily. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She tossed the file aside, and brought out supplies for a good drink. “It seems the storm’s pretty bad out there, so how about a good ol’ fashioned night out?” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. road trip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was less of a direct financial billing, but more of an indirect series of complaints. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Firstly, Twilight was implying that they were overworking him (it was a vicious cycle that couldn’t be helped: they were understaffed, and kept throwing the extra missions on their top spy when he proved able to handle the amount). Next, he suggested that they do </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> about the potholes and cracks littering Ostania’s streets and sidewalks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Apparently he had taken a nasty fall when he wasn’t looking because he was run haggard from missions. There wasn’t a serious injury, however, because his wife happened to be there to catch him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reducing his mission workload, she could do. The other worry...well WISE wasn’t about to mess with that much of Ostania’s business, and as long as his family was by his side, he’d be fine. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>road trip a man, literally *sad ba dum tss*</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. nursing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Handler had to admit...it wasn’t Twilight’s fault this time. Probably. That didn’t mean she didn’t think he couldn’t have handled it better, though, honestly. What was that man thinking? Not just him, but she also had to reassess her role in this as well. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Talks with Nightfall, Twilight...various other WISE operatives…the headache returned with a vengeance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t enough that Nightfall regularly challenged Yor to all sorts of physical activity and all sorts of other things (she wasn’t going to suggest cooking—she hardly wanted to fuel this, and Nightfall should do her own thorough research herself), but apparently that had extended to nursing as well. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The last thing Operation Strix needed was for the Forger family cover to be blown, and WISE hardly wanted their undercover operatives at Berlint General Hospital to be exposed. And yet, there was some convoluted mental gymnastics reason for this. She hardly understood it, and didn’t need nor want to, since it wasn’t like she could turn back time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Handler looked at the various bills from the nurse training, collateral damage, and didn’t want to keep reading without a drink.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. shopping</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She was completely fine with Twilight paying for Yor’s purchases. (Twilight being responsible with paying for Anya’s purchases went without saying). If anything, she encouraged it (within reason—WISE still had a budget, she’d like to remind him). </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But that wasn’t the problem. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>problem </span>
  </em>
  <span>was that Twilight’s sense of fashion was turning atrocious.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Matching pajamas, cute. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spy Wars merchandise and clothing, necessary for the mission.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But apparently Twilight was trying to help Yor expand her wardrobe, at the behest of her coworkers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She took another look at the receipt and groaned that she was able to vaguely get the gist of what the items looked like from their names from familiarity and the self-explanatory descriptions. Twilight clearly hadn’t paid attention to fashion trends in awhile. Not even a few months, a few years maybe. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Many people had different opinions about mixing patterns and such other things, but she’d have to put her foot down here. The members of Operation Strix were supposed to blend in, not stand out. (Unless, of course, Donovan Desmond turned out to be a closet fashionista. She laughed at her own joke.)</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>the bad puns strike again</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. garden</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>For a while now, Twilight had been sending suspicious invoices. She didn’t suspect him of embezzlement, no, but there was something </span>
  <em>
    <span>unusual </span>
  </em>
  <span>happening, certainly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had bought many wood and metal supplies, dirt, cement, new windows...and now, a deep carpet cleaning bill. Sometimes, accidents happened. And carpet cleaning wasn’t a bad idea. But this was the second time in a </span>
  <em>
    <span>week</span>
  </em>
  <span> (the company had, kindly, given him a discount the second time around). </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her line of questioning was along the idea that if she suspected something strange in his recent activity, his neighbors might as well. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As it turned out, Yor had taken an attempt at gardening to grow peanuts for Anya at home. As there wasn’t much room for a garden, it had spread out along the windowsills...and into the apartment. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first time was an accident, the second a “burglary” attempt. Burglary in quotes—did Twilight try to break into his own home, or was Frankie trying out some sort of spy gadget?! (She was better off knowing the answer to that, she knew.) </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>lol ppl be like “flower language” and things but meanwhile I’m like,,,plants go brr</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. sky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>After the </span>
  <em>
    <span>last </span>
  </em>
  <span>date incident (don’t get her wrong, she had to give the man </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>credit for putting some initiative into doing nice things for his wife), she put a hard stop on how crazy his ideas (and the </span>
  <em>
    <span>amount </span>
  </em>
  <span>of them) were allowed to be. The ten billion reservations he had made last time, and the no refund policies...she wasn’t ready for a repeat of that. He had to be realistic. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘One, Twilight. Choose one idea. Maybe even broach the topic with her in advance this time, hm?’</span>
  </em>
  <span> was her suggestion. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘And ask if she actually wants a limo or not, some people are just too down-to-earth for that kind of thing.’ </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so a hot air balloon reservation had been made. To ease up on the pricing, he was bringing the picnic himself instead of purchasing catering through the company. All in all, she had to admit it was sweet, and happy to hear it went off without a hitch. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. sharing bed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank god it’s thursday? what happened to time lol, february’s almost over-? godspeed to everyone out there \o/</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In order to keep Anya motivated to become an Imperial Scholar for the sake of Operation Strix (but really, nobody, least of all children, should be burnt out from constant work and pressure), the Forger Family was going on a vacation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even if Twilight thought she was alternating between careless and a terrible miser after this, she still wouldn’t let up on her efforts.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<em>
    <span>“Surely you have better things to do than calculate and compare costs, there’s just a general trend that it’s cheaper to purchase a room with one bed.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> She had sent him. If he had enough time to still protest by sending a cost analysis report back to her, that was time he should have spent with his nose buried in paperwork. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>2 sentence version<br/>handler: SAVE MONEY 1 BED ONLY<br/>twilight: is that how it works—</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. reencounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ty to the server for coming up with the prompts and being so encouraging and showering me with love </p><p>ty to everybody for following along with my contribution for fluffbruary, I don’t even know how to respond and translate the keysmash in my head but I appreciate all of you \o/</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She and Yor were well acquainted by this point, with Operation Strix well and done. So it wasn’t strange for Yor herself to leave vague notes in Twilight’s reports (as rare as they were). So for a personal request to be made… Her and Twilight both agreed they wanted to check on their daughter and were requesting assistance. Well, she couldn’t say she was opposed. WISE, though... </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eh, she’d think of something. Future world peace, and all that. (Peace in the Forger household, and that meant the world enough for them.) </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After all, if Anya Forger were going on a date with Damian Desmond, what else was there to do but go all out? For all that Anya had done for WISE, she could afford that much, at least. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>bonus because this popped into my head for prompt 27 - first kiss:</p><p>Did she run the WISE betting pool about Twilight and his progress and milestones with Operation Strix (the Forger family)? No, she’d never do that to her agents. (Of course she did.)</p><p>For all the headaches he’d given her, it was the least he could do for her. (And moreover, as...not quite their friend, but more like their family counselor, she reserved the right to it.)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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